What Help Could You Use?

December 15, 2010 Written by Frances Schagen
 


Help!

Originally uploaded by Dimitri N.

Did you write down what you do well? Are you clear on it? What if you could spend all your time working on your strengths in your business? Wouldn’t that catapult your business into the stratosphere? You bet.

Everyone Likes Doing Different Work

Take a look around your business and think about all the other things that need doing; the things that you find hard or boring or energy-sapping. Here’s the amazing thing you have to understand in order to really break free. Just because you find these things hard or boring or energy-sapping, doesn’t mean everyone does. My business, Crystal Clear Bookkeeping is a case in point. We love bookkeeping. We love getting big bags of receipts and making sense of them. It’s just a big puzzle for us.

People bring their stuff to us and apologize because they hate to do this stuff. They can’t believe it when we say we are excited to dive into the work.

Ask for Appropriate Help

Have you ever had someone ask you for a favour and you heart sank because you knew it was going to be hard for you to do? Have you had times where people asked for a favour that was right up your alley? You probably could think of a few examples of the first one but maybe not of the second one – because they didn’t feel like favours.

Ask a gardener for flowers or a knitter for mitts or a connector for connections. Don’t ask a busy executive for general advice on how to start a business, don’t ask a talker for a written report, don’t ask a mechanic for knitting or flowers or a cake if that isn’t what they like doing.

If you look you will always find people who are happy to do the parts that you don’t want to do. Take them up on it and free yourself to do the magic you can do when you are working from your strengths.

Make it Easy For People to Help

A wise woman once told me that it is important to give to people the opportunity to give to you. She said that people want to help and the best gift you can give them is to make it easy for them to do that. That works best when they are doing what they do best.

  1. Make it clear what outcomes you want.
  2. Make sure people have the resources they need.
  3. Appreciate their help – out loud and to them
  4. Also see this post

What would free you to do your art? What opportunities can you give to other people? What would make your life better?

Develop Strong Teams, Do It, Know Where You Are Going
, , , , , , ,
Similar posts
  • Janet Thinks About Scaling Her Busine... — “Janet” Janet was in the building supply store checking in on things when she heard her name called. They were a major supplier, therefore a major part of her business. She wanted to make sure they knew who she was and that they were happy with her. She looked around to see who was calling [...]
  • Scaling Up Means You Need a Bigger La... — The question I get asked the most is “How do I get more customers?” The answer is rarely about marketing. Usually they are trying to scale up by doing more of the same.  It’s like trying to reach higher without getting a bigger ladder. The business owners who scale successfully find a bigger ladder and [...]
  • You are the product of the 5 people c... — You have the same health, the same bad and good habits and the same beliefs as the 5 people closest to you. Choose those people wisely. The research is in and this holds for your personal life. I see the same hold for business. More than anything, you share the same beliefs with the people [...]
  • Feeling Overwhelmed Doesn’t Have to b... — There is this myth in business that feeling overwhelmed is situation normal. The idea is that there is more to do than you can possibly do and that you have to wear many hats, even if they don’t fit well. The only reason it feels that way is because of the MBA model of business. [...]
  • 4 Hour Work Week Your Business –... — Every few years I dive into Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour Work Week. I set aside all the criticisms and focus on the parts that I can use. The section that continues to have the most impact is the one on elimination. When the book came out, I decided to read it over a weekend and [...]